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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Butterick B4822 Tutorial

For our first project I have chosen a nice handbag with round handles. The pattern? Butterick B4822. I have chosen to make View B without the handle covers. It could also be View A but without the pom-pom trim. Anyway, it’s a hybrid between View A and View B. I believe this bag is a good first project and over the next few days I’ll show you how to make it!

Notes: 1) The pattern calls for 6.5” round handles, which I didn’t have. I used 5.5” and it worked OK, although I think that larger handles would have been better. Seam allowances are 0.5” throughout the project, although at some point or another I don’t follow this rule.
2) Measurements are in inches.3) The making of this bag involved the unorthodox method of opening the handles with the intent of making the construction of this bag easier for me. If you're unsure about this, please wait until the end of this tutorial and then decide if this is the right method for you.

To start, cut the pattern pieces corresponding to View A. You should have 6 pieces in total.

STEP 1: PREPARING THE FRONT POCKET

We’re going to prepare the front pocket (pattern piece #1, steps 1-5 on the instructions). First, we need to make a casing for the elastic by turning in the top edge 1/4” towards the wrong side of the fabric. Do this and press. (Note: I use this super handy folding template for turning and pressing which you can download from this wonderful blog called “The Scientific Seamstress.” Go get yours!)

Then fold another 0.5” and press again.

Now stitch close to the inner pressed edge. Notice how I moved the needle on my machine to the left. This helps me get the stitching very close to the left edge.

Before inserting the elastic, fold the pocket in half crosswise. Place a pin on both ends of the crease. This will help you later when you need to determine where the middle of the pocket is.

Insert the elastic in the casing and baste both ends. Basting ensures the elastic stays inside the casing. You can do this by hand or, if you’re lazy like me, you can set your machine to zig-zag stitching with no stitch length. I stitched back and forth several times, super close to the pocket’s side edges, on both sides. Now your elastic can’t escape!

Place the pocket on one of your #2 pattern pieces. The pocket’s WRONG side will sit on the front piece’s RIGHT side. Make the bottom edges match and pin.

Now the pattern tells you to baste the pocket onto the front piece. Because I don’t want my basting stitches to show when I put the bag together later, I will baste using a 1/4” seam allowance instead of the standard 0.5”.

Next you have to sew the pocket down the middle to make two compartments. Remember those pins you placed to mark the middle of the pocket? Grab a ruler and place pins all along the middle between the top and bottom pins. This will help your stitches be super more or less straight. :-P (This could also be done with disappearing ink marker, I suppose…) Stitch.

You’re done making and placing your pocket, yay! Our next step will be to put the exterior of the bag together and install the handles. I hope all these instructions have been clear. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions. See you soon!